He is the Detroit Red Wings’ leading goal scorer with 11, and might have had another one entering Thursday’s game at Toronto had things gone differently Tuesday.

Athanasiou was on a breakaway in the third period when Lightning forward Alex Killorn used his stick to slow Athanasiou, tugging at his leg. Athanasiou lost his balance, and both ended up penalized: Killorn for hooking, Athanasiou for embellishment.

“I thought I was going to get a penalty shot, to be honest,” Athanasiou said Wednesday. “It was almost a clear cut breakaway — obviously I didn’t want to dive, I wanted to score.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Some people have tough nights, even the refs. The game is really fast, so you have to be paying attention and you have to make sure you are paying attention to detail because any time that stick is horizontal, I mean — it’s a hook. Call one or the other. Call me for the embellishment if you think it’s that and then don’t call the hook. It’s a pretty clear hook there. Everyone makes mistakes, so, just have to move on from it and get ready for the next game.”

“It’s definitely a game changer for sure, so it definitely hurts. I think everyone who saw the play knows what the right call was. It sucks. From going from a possible penalty shot and increasing the lead maybe, or even just having the extra man out there for two minutes and getting the advantage. It sucks for sure, but hopefully he pays a lot more attention during the upcoming games and really focuses on making the right calls.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.